Re: BUG #14299: initdb and man pages are not installed in the alternatives system

Hi Karl,

On Sat, 2016-08-27 at 15:50 +0000, kop@meme.com wrote:
> Bug reference:      14299
> Logged by:          Karl Pinc
> Email address:      kop@meme.com
> PostgreSQL version: 9.5.4
> Operating system:   RHEL 7
> Description:        
>
> Hi,
>
> Just installed PG 9.5 on a RHEL 7 box.  While client programs like psql and
> db_dump are installed in the alternatives system, initdb, and perhaps other
> server side programs, are not.  Consequently I must invoke initdb with a
> fully qualified path.

This is intentional. We only create alternatives links for the binaries that
are cross version compatible. That is a natural effect of being able to
multiple version of RPMs.

> I can see man pages for psql (etc.) but not initdb. 

Actually initdb, etc. are just not under MANPATH:

man /usr/pgsql-9.5/share/man/man1/initdb.1

would work.

>  And I can't see any man pages for SQL commands like CREATE DATABASE.  By
> this I mean they are not in my MANPATH.  I presume this is because they are
> not under the control of the alternatives system.

I am not aware that we have man pages for SQL commands. You are welcome to send
patches via https://redmine.postgresql.org/projects/pgrpms/issues .

> I've not tried installing whatever package contains, say, pg_test_timing,

(postgresql95-contrib)

> but it would be nice if all the PG upstream RPMs "did the right thing" with
> respect to alternatives and "just worked'.

We made this design decision a few years ago, and I'm open to any solutions /
suggestions that won't break the multiple version installation feature.

Regards,
--
Devrim GÜNDÜZ
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
PostgreSQL Danışmanı/Consultant, Red Hat Certified Engineer
Twitter: @DevrimGunduz , @DevrimGunduzTR